Figure of the Week

John Gray (1809-1848) was the son of John Gray (1769-1848), a Scottish merchant and owner of Traveler’s Rest on the Rappahannock River east of Fredericksburg.  The Grays owned and operated the old Newton’s Mill on which was “fixed one of Davidson’s Cotton Gins, with 51 saws.”  William Walker ran the mill and John Gray advertised that “Cotton will be picked and packed in round bales of 300 lbs. for one eighth Toll.”  It seems to have been this younger John Gray who was experimenting with raising silk works at Traveler’s Rest in 1839.